Bloomfield Road

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Bloomfield Road
Full name	Bloomfield Road
Nickname
Built	{{{built}}}
Opened	1899
Capacity	9,000
Home of	Blackpool F.C.
Pitch size	112 x 74 yards

Bloomfield Road is the home of English football club Blackpool Football Club. The venue was used during the 2005 UEFA Women's Championship after having two stands redeveloped between 2001 and 2002, giving the ground a capacity of 11,295 (all-seated, including the temporary east stand). Currently there are only three stands, since the South Stand had been demolished in 2003 in preparation for the construction of a new stand. When the stadium is complete, the new capacity should be 16,000.

The ground is also used by Blackpool Panthers rugby league side.

[edit] Stands

Pricebusters Matthews Stand

This stand is on the west side of the ground and is the main stand, having the players' tunnel and executive boxes at the rear. It is named after the Blackpool Football legend Sir Stanley Matthews.

Mortensen North Stand (Kop)

This stand is at the north end of the ground replacing the old Spion Kop (whose roof was pulled down in 1981) and is connected to the West Stand with a corner stand. It is named after another former player, Stan Mortensen who is the only player in history to score a hat-trick at Wembley in an FA Cup Final.

Temporary East Stand

This holds approximately 1,800 seats and looks rather like a stand you would find at a golf course. There was an incident in 2005 when Sheffield Wednesday supporters jumped up and down with this stand full and some of the stands middle section gave way, no one was injured though. This stand should hopefully be developed within a few years and the away fans will be moved into the South Stand once that is complete.

South Stand

The previous 1925 main stand was demolished in 2003 which made Bloomfeild Road at the time one of only two grounds in the football league where the players tunnel was at one end of the ground (the other being Burnley`s Turf Moor). Currently there is a large open space closed off between the pitch and the road which is waiting to be developed into the new South Stand which should be very simialr to the current North Stand. In September 2006 the club announced the building of the South West Corner of the ground which should hold approximately 1,000 people and will possibly be used for away support.

[edit] History

The ground was originally known as Gamble's Field in 1899, being named after the local farmer who owned the land, when South Shore F.C. played there in the Lancashire League. When Blackpool F.C. merged with South Shore F.C. later that year, the club moved into South Shore's ground and changed the name to Bloomfield Road. At this time there was only one stand at the ground which was a small stand on the west side of the ground which helf abour 300 seated.Up Between 1907 and the early 1920's a paddock was built in front of the main stand and a Spion Kop was built on the south side of the ground holding about 1,000 standing spectators while along the east side of the ground the concreated East Paddock was built costing roughly £3,000 which nearly broke the club but raised the ground to have a capacity of 18,000. There was a small stand which had 'sprung up' on the north side of the ground which was called the Motor Stand and made Bloomfeild Road one of the only grounds in England to have stands on all four sides of the ground. In 1917 the Main Stand on the west side of the ground was burnt down and the club was therefored forced to build a new stand. It was only in 1925 that the South Stand was built to provide better changing rooms and a board room it cost £13,000 holding 4,000 people and was one of the most modern stands in the football league at the time. With promotion to the first division in 1930 the locals raised some money to build the Spion Kop at the north end of the ground which could hold around 12,000 standing spectators. This meant that a small motor shed stand had to be moved into the northwest corner, where it stayed until 1985. The East Stand (or 'Scratching Sheds') was covered once the team's fortunes increased. The board room in the South Stand was also said to contain oak panneling, which was taken off one of Lord Nelson's old flagships that ran ashore on the famous Blackpool beach during bad weather.

Between the 1930s and 2001, little changed at Bloomfield Road. A roof was put up over the Kop, which was taken down in 1981 after only twenty years, as the council thought it was dangerous and the football club could not afford to repair it. This also caused the removal of seats that had been put into the East Stand. These seats which had been put into the East Stand were supposedly a very poor idea as the first 3 rows of seats could not see the pitch as the first few rows are sunk below the pitch so when standing your head is at the level of the pitch. In 2001, the West Stand and the Spion Kop were demolished to make way for the new stands and the pitch was moved slighy north and west to give room for expansion on the south and east sides of the ground in future years.

The record attendance at the ground was 38,098 against Wolves in 1955 which Blackpool won 2-1 fittingly with two of the geatest names ever to play for Blackpool scoring Stan Mortensen, who's statue stands behind the North Stand, opening the scoring and Stanley Matthews scoring the winner.

[edit] External links

• Football Association guide
• Internet Football Ground Guide Entry
• Blackpool FC Official Site
• Blackpool.VitalFootball
• Tangerine Planet
• Aerial photo of Bloomfield Road. Other map and aerial photo sources.

Football League One Venues 2006-2007

Alexandra Stadium | Ashton Gate | Belle Vue | Bloomfield Road Boundary Park | Brunton Park | City Ground | Fitness First Stadium Galpharm Stadium | Glanford Park | Griffin Park | Huish Park Liberty Stadium | Matchroom Stadium | Millmoor | New Den Stadium Prenton Park | Priestfield Stadium | Recreation Ground | Sixfields Stadium Vale Park | Valley Parade | Whaddon Road | Withdean Stadium